Women's Chess FIDE Grand Prix Series 2024 - 2025 (Shymkent)

Listening to the interviews the past four days, it’s clear just how stressfull the OKT is. Even for someone like De Boo, who is clearly our best sprinter, or Nuijs, in his 5th OKT.

For me, a system with pre-nomination only works when you only have a few stars. Of course you want to protect them. In case of yesterday’s 1500. The World champion did not qualify, but the three women would did are all capable of winning a medal and have skated faster than Beune ever did in Heerenveen. So why should Beune be protected.   If we would return to that system the pressure would just be moved to the World Cup qualifiers. Miss out there, and your chances of the Olympics are hugely diminished. We had a system like that in the past, which in some cases meant that skaters who had their peak earlier in the season, or even in the previous season, but had lost their form by the time that the Games came along, were nominated. That system could well mean some newbie like van der Bunt misses out.   With other Words, there is no system that 100% guarantees a perfect outcome.

Joy Beune skating faster than ever in Heerenveen, and realising one of the fastest time ever on that track, but still missing out. Since last year she seemed to have left her reputation of the Nearly woman behind, by winning almost every race. But this is so typical of the old Beune.

Gerard van Velden

DAY 4 HIGHLIGHTS   Finland   1 - 2OT   Czechia Period-by-Period: 0-1, 0-0, 1-0, Overtime: 0-1 December 29th 2025, h. 14:30, 3M Arena at Mariucci, Minneapolis